Inseparable Beings: The Remake
by NaturalDreamer
Summary: A remake of the original "Inseparable Beings" and a retell of the series "Sonic X" Season One – Join Sonic and his friends as they struggle to gather the seven Chaos Emeralds in a strange world called Earth. With the help of a human child, his family and a lone traveler, will they succeed and return home?
1. Chapter One

There is a voice that continues to try to awaken this unconscious fox. The voice is unfamiliar to her as the sound becomes louder and she feels her body being shaken gently. Slowly, the female fox stirs in her sleep and groans as an aching pain throbs in her head due to a bright light that she encountered earlier. "Hey! Are you finally awake?"

Grunting, she opens her brown eyes and keeps them narrowed as she glances at the owner of the voice. "Shut up. You're making my headache worse by shouting."

The blue hedgehog widens his emerald eyes at the rude comment, but then grins since the gray female fox is awake now and seems to be in good health, despite the headache that she claims to have. The fox fixes her small rectangular glasses before she rummages through her small brown bag to look for something as she glances to the side. "So, hedgehog, do you have a name?"

"The names Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog," the hedgehog starts off as he thrusts his thumb towards his chest and smirks as if he's use to doing this kind of introduction, "The fastest hedgehog alive!"

"Sonic huh...?" she trails off as her eyes light up when she found what she was looking for and takes out a wrapped lollipop. With a small smile, she unwraps the contents and places the sweet, cherry flavored candy in her mouth before pocketing the wrapper in her bag. The female looks at him calmly before speaking, "I've heard of you. Apologies, but I imagined you to be...taller."

Sonic scratches his nose, not sure how to take that as the female stands and takes in her surroundings. He was used to a lot girls being excited upon meeting him since they heard of his heroics (especially a certain pink hedgehog) and would want to hear stories of how he defeated his enemies. Of course, he would boast about it, showing off his cocky side and make the girls become clingy; that's when it was time to go and avoid that situation. This time it is different to what he's used to as he slightly looks up at the fox. She's a couple of inches taller than him, so he assumes that's why she made that comment. Sonic chuckles and shrugs before speaking. "No need for apologies, miss...?"

Her ears twitch at the sound of his voice as she turns to him. "My name is Rukia," the female fox, Rukia, introduces herself as she moves a piece of orange strand from her eyes and scratches her messy shoulder length hair before continuing, "Do you know where we are? This place doesn't look familiar."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sonic sighs as he crosses his arms and shakes his head, not liking the idea of not having any clue where they are and that leaves them somewhat vulnerable, "But I am glad that I found you. I thought I was the only one here and that my friends were left behind in our world."

"Left behind?" Rukia questions, licking the lollipop a couple of times before taking it out and searches through her memories. She remembers the sound of an alarm waking her up in the middle of the night, her heart pumping as she ran through the forest to check out what was going on, and then there was that bright light that engulfed her. "If that light brought us here, I wouldn't be surprised if your friends are here as well."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I was trying to wake you up. I just hope they're okay." Sonic uncrosses his arms and looks to the side with a small frown, wondering what he should do next.

Rukia watches him, becoming silent as she sticks the lollipop back in her mouth and sticks her white gloved hands in her pockets before she starts to walk away, "Well standing around here isn't going to give us answers. I'm going this way."

"Ah... Wait! I don't think you should go that way." Sonic protests as he notices the direction she's going and tenses as he runs in front of her to block her.

"And why can't I go this way?" Rukia asks as she narrows her eyes at him, not liking where this is going.

"Let's just say I had to run away from a couple of people since they were trying to catch me." Sonic briefly explains as the sounds of sirens are heard from behind him.

Her right bent ear twitches in irritation as she doesn't say anything while five race cars come up to them and stop a couple of feet in front of them. Both of them turn to the cars, narrowing their eyes due to the bright headlights and watch as a figure in the red vehicle climbs out to greet the two. A tall human man with a red racer uniform that matches his helmet briefly waves at them. "Yo! Blue hedgehog. There's been a local search for you. Thank you for waiting."

"What the hell did you do?" Rukia hisses under her breath as she begins to chew on her lollipop.

"Nothing. I was just trying to escape from these crazy humans." Sonic whispers back as he defends himself and glances back at the human.

After taking his helmet off and leaning against his car, he takes notice of Rukia and stares for a while which irritates her even more, not comfortable with a stranger staring at her for too long, especially with her somewhat deformed right ear. "Didn't your mother teach you manners? It's rude to stare."

"Oh..." the man clears his throat, not expecting her to speak, "Apologies, miss, but we didn't expect another creature like your friend here to appear," a grin starts to form on his face, "This makes things more interesting."

Rukia chews on the white stick, attempting to calm herself before she snaps at this stranger again. She doesn't want to create a scene for both of them since they don't need the extra drama in this world, especially if it might bring more trouble into their lives. The man, seeing as though Rukia isn't saying anything else, turns his attention to Sonic. "This town is so peaceful that we weren't getting enough stimulation. The only arrest we had this whole year was just one person... The idiot brought his formula machine here and acted out being a racer. I was thinking of having some fun with him, but it was only about two minutes or so..." the man starts and then he begins to smirk, "...that the guy managed to run around... A mere two minutes is not even enough time to make instant ramen." The man jokingly adds, waiting for their reactions.

When he is met with blank expressions, the man scowls a little, "Hey, this is the part where you're supposed to laugh."

Sonic, taking pity on the man, smirks at his 'joke' and the man returns it with his own, "Close enough."

"Well..." the man continues, "This town became a boring town as it is now...mainly because of us, the special highway high speed squad, the S Team! I am the leader. They call me Highway Star!" the man somewhat introduces his title rather than his human name. Rukia flicks the white stick to the other side of her mouth, not feeling impressed by the title since she just met the man. The 'Highway Star' speaks again after a moment of silence, "It turned out to be a long introduction." he says as his smirk widens.

"From now on, it's going to be fast!"

An engine roars out, surprising Sonic and Rukia. Sonic picks Rukia up and starts running down the road. The four white racing cars that were behind the men are tailing after them at great speed. Rukia ends up spitting out the white stick since she doesn't want to choke while Sonic is running and hangs onto the hedgehog, finding all of this crazy since she didn't expect things to turn out this way. Sonic looks over his shoulder a little to see that the racers were right behind them as he turns down another road. The racers never break their formation as Sonic smirks at their persistant, feeling excitement starting to stir within him. "So they want to play chase with me? Sure sounds like fun."

"I don't think this is very fun..." Rukia mutters as Sonic picks up speed.

Sonic grins at her as the race cars start to surround them, giving them little space to escape and this worries Rukia since she doesn't like the fact of being caught by these humans, "Great. They surrounded us. What's your plan now, hedgehog?"

"Heh heh. They won't capture us. Watch this!" Sonic assures her as he disappears and appears running beside the right car, which surprises Rukia greatly.

She knows of his speed, but didn't think he can go this fast. Of course, this is her first time witnessing his ability, though that isn't an excuse to underestimate this hedgehog. Tightening her grip, Rukia watches as Sonic knocks on the passenger window and then disappears again to appear on top of the car. Placing her down, Sonic stands on the glass and bends down to stare at the driver upside down.

"Hey! Stop playing around! It's dangerous! Are you going to take responsibility if kids decide to copy you!?" the driver from inside yells at the hedgehog as said hedgehog just smirks at him.

"You guys..." Sonic starts off as he stares at the audience reading this fanfic, "...don't ever get on top of a moving car, okay?"

Rukia slowly claps at the crazy hedgehog, "Well said, hedgehog. Well said."

"You think?" Sonic asks as he picks her up, jumps off the car and runs off to the front once more.

Rukia just nods as the race cars from behind become even faster and more desperate to capture them. Soon enough, Sonic does something unexpected and starts to run backwards, showing off to the drivers that they're no match for his speed. Even Rukia is amazed that he's able to pull this stunt off, yet she slightly rolls her eyes at his perfomance. "Show off."

Sonic grins as he continues to run backwards, not breaking a sweat. The four race cars separate themselves from the middle as the red race car from before is following closely behind them. Rukia narrows her eyes, wondering what that man is planning. She didn't have to wait long as the red race car suddenly burst forward, shocking the two of them. Sonic just barely made it out of the way as the red car rushes ahead of them and forces him to run the correct way. Noticing the difference in speed from the white vehicles, Sonic smirks. "Get on my back."

Rukia looks up at him with a questioning glance. She didn't say anything as she moves around him and ends up on his back. Making sure she doesn't fall off, her arms wrap around his neck as his arms wrap around her legs. "Hold on tight."

His speed increases dramatically and it takes all of her strength to not let go of this speedy hedgehog. The blur of colors takes her breath away as the sight of the red car comes and goes within a second while Sonic continues forward. If Rukia didn't find herself distracted with the colors, she might have warned Sonic of what's ahead of them. Well, to be exact, there really is nothing ahead of them except signs warning of an unfinished road. Unable to stop himself in time, the two are now soaring through the sky and are taking in a glorious scene before them. Colorful lights are brightly lit below them like Christmas light and Sonic had to give out a sharp whistle, impressed with the show. "It's quite beautiful."

"Yes, it's a breathtaking sight." Rukia agrees as she stares at the lights for a while longer.

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Sonic notices the guy from before standing at the edge and watching as the two float away from his view. "There was an amusing guy too."

After that comment, the two continue to fly forward and over some houses before they come across a problem. They are falling and quite quickly at that, though Sonic's problem is that he's going to fall into a pool filled with water. Sonic starts flailing around and panicking at the sight of water as Rukia is having a hard time keeping a grip on him. Before they know it, they slam right into the pool and cold water immediately sting their body. The impact takes the breath out of both of them as Rukia starts heading toward the surface. As soon as she reaches the surface, she takes in some air and waits for Sonic to join her.

No response.

Rukia widens her eyes as she inhales some air before diving into the pool to see why Sonic isn't surfacing. Holding her breath to the best of her ability, she reaches the bottom of the pool and watches as Sonic struggles to move about, but finding himself unable to move and he just sits there with his arms crossed, pouting. Rukia hides a small smile as she takes his arm, wraps it around her shoulder and starts swimming upward. Two of them made it and gasp for some air, specfically Sonic since he's been holding his breath the longest. An outstretched hand reaches them and Sonic takes it without second thought since he didn't want to be in the water any longer than he has to. The hand drags them towards the edge of the pool and helps them out of the water. Sonic kneels over as he coughs out the water while Rukia sits on the ground and attempting to squeeze the water out of her rolled up blue pants.

"A-are you all right?" a young boy's voice asks in concern as he pats Sonic's back.

"Yeah, thank you!" Sonic expresses his gratitude as he looks at the young, brown haired boy who widens his blue eyes in shock.

"You can talk?" the boy questions in a whisper.

"Yes we can." Rukia answers for Sonic as she shrugs off her black sleeveless jacket and squeezes the water out.

The boy turns to Rukia, his expression the same. "Wow... You guys can really talk." Finding some excitement in this meeting, he continues, "I'm Chris! And you guys are? What are your names!?"

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic introduces himself.

"My name is Rukia. Rukia the Fox."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sonic characters, except Rukia.**

Hello again everyone. Yes, you have read this correctly. To those that know of the title and the contents of the story, welcome. To those that are new, welcome again! I have decided to start over from the beginning by changing my character and to re-do the contents of the story since I have gotten better at writing. You will notice that things will look different as you read and this is to help prevent the feeling of reading something over again. I hope you enjoyed reading this story and as usual, I accept any criticism. Bye bye~


	2. Chapter Two

After introductions were over, Chris ushers them inside where they can dry off and sleep for the night. Luckily it's the middle of the night where mostly everyone is asleep so they didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone. Though, they were still careful on not making any noise as they finally reach Chris' room and he gently shuts the door behind him. Sonic and Rukia awkwardly stand in the middle of the room, not knowing where else to stand as Chris went to his bathroom to fetch some towels. He comes back with some towels, hands both of them a towel, and goes back to the bathroom to change out of his slightly damp pajamas. Both of the animals immediately dry themselves off with the soft, warm cloth and find out how sleepy they are when Rukia yawns out loud.

"I believe I had enough adventure for today." Rukia admits as she cleans her glasses after drying herself off.

"Time to hit the hay!" Sonic announces before jumping on the small sofa, which made Rukia shake her head in disbelief on how quick he recovered from the awkward situation.

"At least clean up after yourself before you fall asleep." Rukia says as she picks up the wet towel that he left on the ground.

Rukia glances over to Sonic when she didn't hear a reply coming from him and notices that his eyes are closed with his chest moving in a relaxed manner. The energetic hedgehog is already asleep, showing signs of how exhausted he really is by lying nonchalantly on the couch and making himself at home. Her right bent ear twitches in annoyance, wanting to just throw the towel at him so that he would learn to not fall asleep while leaving a mess behind. She walks toward him, raises the towel over her head, and prepares to throw it at him when a thought stops her mid-step. Thinking back on the little mishap they encountered not to long ago and seeing as how comfortable he is, she sighs heavily, changes her mind, and brings her hand down as Chris steps out of the bathroom.

"Here are the towels. Thank you for letting us use them." Rukia thanks him as she hands the damp towels back to him.

"Y-you're welcome. Please make yourself at home." Chris stutters as he takes the towels and places them in the hamper in the bathroom.

"I believe someone already beat me to that." Rukia points out as she glances at Sonic's sleeping form while Chris laughs quietly at her observation before she turns to him again, "I'll go ahead and sleep over there. Good night."

"Good night."

Chris watches as Rukia walks over to a bean bag and collapses on top before curling into a ball to become comfortable. With a smile, the young boy climbs into bed, yawns quietly, and covers himself with the thick blankets to resume sleeping. All three of the living beings in the room are in sync, letting peaceful dreams take over their minds as they sleep the rest of the night.

* * *

Morning light penetrates through the blinds in Chris' room as the sound of birds faintly chirping from the outside stirs Rukia in her sleep, groaning on how exhausted she is. She turns in her sleep, attempting to go back to sleep before light footsteps in the room catches her attention. Her eyes snap open as she quickly sits up and looks around to find the source, realizing after a second that she can only see blurry images. Panicking, Rukia tries to find her glasses by patting around and on her as something suddenly smooth touches her hand. The female picks the object up, feels it to find out if it's her glasses or not and sighs in relief when she feels two smooth surfaces with an indent in between before placing it on herself. The world before her becomes clear when objects in question are now solid and not blurry when her eyes catch Chris coming out of the bathroom with some modern clothes on.

"Ah..." Rukia remembers the boy and how she came to meet him with the blue hedgehog, who is still sleeping on the sofa, after the whole ordeal they went through last night. "Good morning."

Rukia's voice catches the boy off guard when he jumps a little and turns to see Rukia sitting on the bean bag with her legs crossed as she rummages through her bag once more. Relaxing a little, he smiles politely toward her direction and greets her. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Mmm... Yeah, I did, but I wish I slept in longer." Rukia confesses as she finds a lollipop in her bag, unwraps the contents, and places the grape flavored candy in her mouth as she continues, "Birds woke me up. Why are they so happy in the morning? Nobody should be this happy this early in the day."

"Are you...not a morning person, Rukia?" Chris questions while Rukia stands and steps away from the beanbag.

"Yeah, that's right and since I'm awake..." Rukia starts as she strides over to the blue hedgehog with her hands in her pockets. "It's time for him to wake up as well."

Chris watches as Rukia reaches the sofa, grabs a sofa pillow, and throws it at Sonic to force him awake. This motion made Sonic yelp in surprise as the young boy stares in astonishment when the pillow hits the hedgehog in the face and made him fall on the floor. Sonic frantically looks around to see if he's under attack while Rukia bends her knees to face Sonic at eye level. "Good morning, hedgehog. Did you get a good night sleep?"

"Was that _really_ necessary?" Sonic emphasizes with a not so amused look in his narrowed eyes as he rubs his sore nose.

"Yes, I believe it was. You left your dirty towel on the floor yesterday, so you can say this is a little punishment." Rukia reveals her reason while twisting the white stick in between her lips.

"You didn't have to do it that way." Sonic argues as he stands which Rukia follows suit.

"Well it was the only thought I came up with last night, so it's better than nothing." Rukia shrugs with a small smirk.

Suddenly, there's a knock at door which alarms everyone in the room. Both Sonic and Rukia look around the room to see if there were any hiding spots when the blue hedgehog rushes to the sliding doors that lead to the balcony, opens the door, grabs Rukia's hand, and jumps on top of the roof just as Chris opens the door to greet the person. "Master Chris, I heard noises coming from this room. Is everything well?"

"O-of course, Mr. Tanaka! Everything's all good!" Chris' strain voice reaches the two creatures ears as they continue to be silent and listen on their conversation.

"Are you sure?" a man's voice presses with doubt lingering in his words.

"Mm! There's nothing wrong in here."

"Hmm..." Both of the animals tense, anticipating on what's going to happen next as the man in the room speaks again, "Very well. Miss Thorndyke is on the phone and wishes to speak with you."

"Ah, Mama...? Thank you very much." Chris thanks him.

"Then, I will excuse myself." the man says before the sound of a door shutting cause the two animals to breathe a sigh of relief as Sonic lies on his back to relax.

"Close call..." Rukia mutters while chewing on her lollipop to reduce the built up stress in her system.

"Yeah it was." Sonic agrees, closing his eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

After that small conversation, they remain quiet for the time period as Chris talks on the phone with his mother while enjoying the breeze on the balcony. It is such a lovely day with a peaceful atmosphere between everyone. Rukia watches different humans, from on top of the roof, go about their day; parents taking their children on a walk with happy expressions on their face, humans with uniforms placing letters into mailboxes, and neighbors using a strange machine to cut the grass on their lawn. There is no fear on them... Only serenity... This familiar sensation relaxes her mind and body as if she's at home with her parents.

_Home..._

Rukia's eyes turns to the blue sky, longing and curiosity filling her wondering mind. It has been two years since she left home and started her journey in finding that missing fox. Two long years... No clues to his whereabouts... No answers to her questions... All would seem hopeless, yet it does not in her case since it burns strongly in her aching heart. Sonic lies still on the roof as he listens to Chris' conversation with his mother, opening his one eye as he hears the sentence "I helped a drowning cat" coming from the boy's mouth and narrows in confusion. Why would he call him a cat when he's a hedgehog? It doesn't make sense to him and he's going to question him once he's done on the phone. "It's peaceful..."

The female's quiet voice beside him catches the hedgehog's attention as he tilts his head towards her, noticing that she isn't looking at him but at the sky with yearning in her eyes. Sonic isn't sure if she is trying to have a conversation with him or just talking to herself when she made the comment, but he nods his head regardless and starts to stand. "I guess so."

His sudden movements and voice breaks Rukia's train of thought as Sonic jumps from the roof to sit on the rail in front of Chris; he's going to have a word with the young human about his conversation and what he meant calling him a 'cat'. "Was that cat supposed to be me?"

Having a hand behind his head, Chris stares at Sonic for a moment before speaking, "Yeah. Are you angry at me?" Chris brings his hand down and faces Sonic as he spreads his arms out to try to make Sonic understand. "You see, she wouldn't understand if I said I saved a hedgehog."

"What's so hard to understand?" Rukia questions while landing beside Chris and looks at him with a frown.

"Because hedgehogs are much smaller..." Chris answers as he forms, with both of hands, the width of the small 'hedgehog' that he talks about. "Maybe this big at most...?"

"Heh..." Sonic mutters with blank expression, leaning his head on his hand.

"You guys are special. You're larger than normal and besides, you guys can talk too." Chris praises as he leans forward, his eyes bright with excitement. "When and where did you guys learn how to speak?"

Sonic scratches his head as he narrows his eyes in concentration. "I wonder... I don't remember something so long ago..."

Rukia shrugs as she removes the contents of another lollipop and places the vanilla flavor candy in her mouth, "I guess from my parents when I was a toddler."

_Ring Ring_

The phone in Chris' hand rings loudly, which startles him for a second before he answers it. "Oh... Hello ... Oh, Dad...!"

Both of the animals turn to each other with smug expressions while Chris talks to his father on the phone. Sonic shrugs and shakes his head with a sigh as Rukia snorts at his reaction which earns a small blush from Chris; such caring and loving parents this kid has. Once Chris is done talking on the phone, he turns the phone off and hangs it up on the phone charger. "Oh by the way... What about breakfast? What do you guys eat?"

"What do hedgehogs here eat?" Sonic asks.

"I checked it out on the internet and this is what I found." Chris replies while handing him a bowl of brown bits.

Sonic stares at the food with a suspicious expression before he takes a piece and places it in his mouth. He chews on it and immediately shows distaste for the foreign food as he swallows then gags. Sonic points an accusing finger at the food after coughing. "Yuck! What is this!?"

"Cat food..." Chris answers with a sheepish smile.

"Pfft..."

"Don't laugh!" Sonic yells at the culprit, which turns out to be Rukia, who has a small smirk on her lips.

"Heh heh... Poor little hedgehog is being treated like a cat. What else can go wrong?" Rukia teases while twisting the white stick in between her lips.

"Give me a break!"

"Well there seems to be food for hedgehogs too, but it says that cat food will do fine." Chris says while Sonic turns his head away from the food with a not so amused frown. "You could also eat dried crickets..."

Having enough of this, Sonic flips the bowl away from him before he jumps off the balcony and lands on a tree branch not too far from them. Chris panics as he attempts to reach out to him, "Where are you going?!"

"I, unfortunately, happen to be a gourmet." Sonic sarcastically uses the word 'unfortunately' to make his point.

Chris brings his hand back before reaching out to him again to try to persuade the hedgehog. "No, you shouldn't go outside!" Chris turns to Rukia in desperation to bring him back. "Can't you say something to change his mind!?"

"Sorry, but I'm not his babysitter. If he gets lost out there, that's his problem." Rukia coolly replies, not looking at either of them while she said that.

"No way..."

"See you!" Sonic bids them farewell before he runs off to who knows where.

"Wait, wait Sonic!"

Rukia just licks on her lollipop while Chris stands there astounded by the turn of events. He didn't know what to do or say at the moment as Rukia glances in his direction with a blank expression, "So..." Chris blinks before turning to her, "Do you have anything else to eat besides 'cat food'?"

* * *

"_**It is so fast that it is difficult to understand just by looking at the footage.**_"

A female voice reports from the television in the living room where our heroes are sitting on the couch watching the news. By some strange twist of fate, Sonic came back after some time and eating some food that he's nonchalantly eating at the moment. Rukia sits on the other end of the couch, cheek resting on her palm with a bored expression as the appearance of Sonic running on the highway appears on T.V.

"_**But we have some eye witness reports.**_" the female continues as a man in a blue uniform appears on television.

"_**It is about this big and blue. It looks to be a hedgehog.**_" the man describes while holding his hand up to a certain height as the screen changes to another man in his car.

"_**It went right by me at tremendous speed.**_" the man says while creating a sound effect to describe Sonic's speed.

Another man, who is leaning against his car, shares his story to the reporters with some people in the background, "_**No exaggeration. I'm sure he was going at mach speed.**_"

Soon enough, another male with a monkey in his arms, appears on television with a white lab coat on. As the man talks, the monkey messes with his glasses which made Rukia smirk a little, "_**As to the question of whether this is a UMA – Unidentified Mutant Animal...the answer is no. Even the cheetah, who is said to be the fastest animal around, cannot outrun a car. There could never be an animal who can run that fast.**_"

"Is it good?" Chris suddenly asks Sonic, who is stuffing his face with some cookies.

"It's okay, I guess." Sonic shrugs after swallowing, not finding the taste to be the best or the worst. Decent would be the best word for it.

"You certainly caused quite a stir. Is it usually like this whenever something new happens?" Rukia refers to Sonic at first before turning to Chris when asking her question.

"Yeah, but not this extreme..." Chris answers before the door to the living room suddenly opens to reveal an elderly enthusiastic man in a lab coat.

"Did you hear about it, Chris!?" the elderly man marches toward Chris as both Sonic and Rukia watch him with interest. "A mysterious machine that beat the S Team appeared."

Soon enough, the man takes notice of Sonic and Rukia as Chris realizes too late that the two of them are not suppose to be seen. While Chris is mentally freaking out, the old man looks back at the television with a puzzled expression, gives Sonic a side glance, gazes back at the television, and suddenly stares at Sonic up close. Chris quickly grabs a pillow nearby and slams it on top of Sonic, who jumps at the sudden impact as he struggles against the object. Rukia covers her mouth to prevent her from laughing at the ridiculous scene, though a snicker did escape her lips.

"Hey, just what do you think you're doing, Chris!?" Sonic mumbles angrily against the pillow.

Sonic throws the pillow up and away from him as he crosses his arms and pouts, irritated that he is being treated like this. The old man blinks after some confusion before furrowing his eyebrows in concentration as he bends down to the blue hedgehog. "Blue...looks to be a hedgehog..."

His furrowed eyebrows rise in delight as he grasps the identity of the blue hedgehog in front of him – the one who beat the S Team! Grinning at his find, he lunges toward Sonic and wraps his arms firmly around the surprised hedgehog, "Was it him?"

"No, well, uh..." Chris is at a loss of words as the older man brings out a screwdriver.

Rukia quietly crawls away from the group, losing a bit of strength from keeping her laughter together as the older man starts poking Sonic's back to find a screw. Finding his back to be sensitive and ticklish, Sonic laughs while struggling to find his way out of the man's grasp. Pushing himself away from the man, Sonic jumps into the air and lands by the television. Both of the humans watch in astonishment before the man snaps out of it and points his screwdriver at Sonic. "Don't run away!"

"Grandpa...he... Sonic is not a machine and neither is Rukia." Chris clarifies which causes the old man to stand in shock and drop the screwdriver in the process.

"_**Please stay away. I'm scared.**_"

"_**Chao!**_"

New voices from the television catches everyone's attention as they turn to the source where a young female rabbit is seen holding onto a Chao while shaking in fear. Firefighters are attempting to rescue the two from the billboard as nearby reporters are filming the defenseless creatures. Rukia's ears immediately went backwards in dismay of the situation as she turns to Sonic. "Are they friends of yours...?"

"Yeah...! So we weren't the only ones who came to this weird world. Okay, hang on!" Sonic exclaims as he rushes out the room and dashes outside.

Both Chris and Rukia turn to each other as they run after the speedy hedgehog as the old man stays behind in disbelief on what's happening right now. Chris reaches the door first and calls out to Sonic. "Do you know where to go!?"

After running through a hedge, Sonic skids to a stop before rushing back and hitting another spot of the hedge as he stops in front of them. Sonic shrugs with a sheepish grin as Rukia shakes her head at him. "Oh brother..."

* * *

They now find themselves in a garage where Chris' grandfather is talking on the phone with an important acquaintance of his. Rukia turns to catch Sonic touching some machinery and she slaps his hands away from them, not knowing how they work and not wanting to add more trouble on their list. Sonic shakes his hands as he glares at Rukia, who is feigning innocence, before rubbing his hands. Chris' grandpa hangs the phone up and turns to the group. "They seem to have been transported from the police to Area 99."

"Area 99...?" Chris repeats as he suddenly becomes serious. "That's a military research facility!"

"Military?" Both Sonic and Rukia ask simultaneously.

"Yeah, the National Defense Force. They have war tanks, fighter planes, and weapons of war." Chris explains to the two.

"Sounds a lot like Eggman...!" Sonic exclaims with a frown.

"Eggman...? Who's that?" Rukia questions while biting onto her lollipop.

"He's an evil scientist who uses robots to fight, but he always gets defeated by me." Sonic replies with a smug smirk.

"Ah..." the brief explanation triggers a memory in Rukia's mind as she throws the white stick away and swallows the candy. "That fat, insane human scitentist from our world... Yeah, I remember him. Not much of a fighter."

"You fought him before?" Sonic wonders, though Rukia shrugs it off.

"Eh..."

"They've been brought to military facilities to be checked out, I see." the old man interrupts their conversation as they turn to him. "Maybe they think you guys are some sort of aliens or biological weapons that had been developed in another country. What is in fact the truth? Huh?"

"I have no idea." Sonic shrugs with his eyes closed. "So now that I know where they are, I guess I'll excuse myself."

Sonic marches toward the exit with Chris protesting on the side. "But if you go in like that, they'll catch you too."

"I'm not such a klutz." Sonic stops briefly to assure Chris as he turns again to face a closing door. His eyes narrow at the obstacle in front of him before he looks over his shoulder to glare at the perpetrator. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"

Chris freaks out and waves his hands in front of him while Rukia glances at the elderly man, noticing he's holding a remote control. "Hey old man, what's the big idea?"

"Oops, I've been found out." Chris' grandpa rubs behind his head with a huge grin, not minding the fact that he had been found out. Everyone stares at him in wonder, trying to figure out what's going in that head of his as he flexes his arm and places his other hand on it. "This is quite interesting. I'm getting pretty excited."

"Not you too, Grandpa..." Chris sighs in disbelief of his grandpa's excitement.

"You come along too." his grandpa says before continuing. "You're always saying that you don't want to be a bore like your dad, right?"

Chris places his hands up with a flustered expression. "Agh, that's supposed to be a secret. Don't tell dad I said that."

"I know!"

"So, how are we all going to get there? He can't carry us all." Rukia thrusts a thumb toward Sonic's direction.

"We'll take my car. Let's go!"

After that's settled, they find the elderly man's car (that looks like a sports car) and he starts the engine up while Chris climbs in the passenger seat. Rukia climbs in the back before noticing that Sonic isn't coming in the car. She peaks her head out to stare at Sonic who is stretching his legs to warm up. "Not getting in?"

"No way! I can reach there faster by running." Sonic declines as he starts running in place.

"Do you know where you're going? You only know the name of the place." Rukia points out as his running slows to a stop to ponder on her point, "Because running around recklessly is not going to solve anything or save your friends."

Sonic crosses his arms, finding her comment an insult to his running style and she merely narrows her eyes at him, not budging from her spot as the two humans in the front watch the two stare at each other. There is only silence as the two animals have a stare off before Chris clears his throat to clear the tense atmosphere. "Why don't you just join us for now, Sonic? My grandpa can at least show you the right way to get there."

"... Fine..." Sonic gives in as Rukia scoots over to the other side of the back seat while Sonic jumps in. Of course, neither of the two looked at each other when he climbed in.

"Let's go!"

Chris' grandpa steps on the gas pedal and they were off to Area 99. Multiple times did the two animals have to duck to avoid being seen by humans who are driving on the busy roads, but now that has come to pass when they are driving down a road where barren land surrounds them. The wind brushes against them to cool them down, yet the heat from the blazing sun bares harshly on their bodies. Rukia stares at the barren scenery, chewing on her lip due to her little 'blunt' speech from before. Still, she said what was on her mind and she clearly can't take it back, though... She could have said something else that could insult him in a way. Rukia sighs at her behavior as she slumps against the door. Sonic just has his arms crossed, pouting at the speed of the sports car. It's going so slow! How is he going to rescue his friends if this thing is as slow as him!?

"I can't be wasting my time riding something like this." Sonic complains, becoming restless in the car.

"Now now."

"This is it, right?" Chris shows his grandpa a one ear piece headphone with a red glass in the front.

"Right." his grandpa nods as Chris hands it to Sonic. Rukia looks over at the group; her curiosity peaked when she sees the head piece.

"Put it on." Chris points at his head as Sonic adjusts the pieces and places it on his head.

"What is it?" Sonic asks, poking at the contraption on his head.

"An infrared scope. I'm sure that Area 99 is full of infrared sensor traps. But, if you wear that, you can detect the traps." Chris' grandpa answers as Sonic nods, winks and gives them two thumbs up as he unbuckles his seat belt and jumps out of the car.

"Thank you. I'm going on ahead." Sonic thanks them as he starts to speed up.

"Be careful not to get caught." Rukia speaks up, giving him a small glance as Sonic turns to her and gives her a thumbs up with a small grin.

"No problem!"

Sonic then speeds up and already he is ahead of them with smoke trailing behind him, leaving the three in the dust. Chris smiles brightly, feeling the thrill pumping through his veins. His grandpa stares in bewilderment at the speed the blue hedgehog is going. "He is way faster than I thought. Okay, then!"

Suddenly the old man picks up speed by slamming the gas pedal which causes the poor souls in the car to be flattened against their seats. The wind blows frantically against their faces as Rukia tightens her seat belt as she grunts in discomfort. "Crazy old man...! Your blood pressure is going to sky rocket if you keep this up!"

"My blood pressure will be fine!" he protests as he continues to at the same speed limit.

After a while though, he did slow down to let Chris talk on the headphone and try to contact Sonic. "Can you hear me, Sonic?"

"_Yeah!_"

His voice is heard clearly through the ear piece as Rukia unfastens her seat belt and sits closer to the passenger seat to hear what's going on. Chris nods to himself before speaking again. "When you get inside, go through the air vent. That should be a blind spot for security, says grandpa."

"_All right._"

"But..." Chris starts off as he looks at his grandpa with a perplexed expression, "...do you know where they're being held captive?"

"Of course I know." Chris' grandpa replies as he grabs the headphone and places it on himself. "If you keep going in suspicious looking directions, I'm sure it'll take you to your destination."

"Can you be anymore vague?" Rukia sighs at the lack of description from the older man and Chris agrees with her, finding it irresponsible.

"_Oh well, I'll work it out somehow._"

"Good to know he's optimistic about the whole thing." Rukia says while rolling her eyes as Chris laughs a little.

The trio continues to go at a steady pace when Sonic's voice breaks the silence. "_I'm inside the air vent._"

"Roger." There is some mumbling in the background as Chris speaks into the small microphone. "What did you just say?"

"_Nothing._"

There is only silence after that brief conversation as the car drives close to the cliff where they have a view of the base. Rukia jumps out of the car and observes the base quietly, anticipating on what might happen next. All of this waiting is gnawing at her and making her all tense since anything can go wrong. Her index finger taps at her thigh, biting her lip as she glances over at Chris to see if Sonic has reported yet. Capturing her gaze, Chris only shakes his head while Rukia clicks her tongue in disappointment before the sound of an alarm brings to their attention. Rukia snaps her head toward the direction of the sound as Chris tries to contact Sonic. "Sonic. What's the matter!? Are you all right!?"

"_No problem._"

Right after he said that, they can hear and see explosions occurring at the base as Rukia narrows her eyes in concern. "Is he really all right?"

Chris listens for Sonic's voice when he notices in the sky a blue airplane near the base. "Look at that!"

Everyone turns their attention to the yellow and blue air plane that's circling around the top of the base when they see Sonic bursting through the ceiling while carrying his friends. The pilot maneuvers the plane where Sonic safely lands on the wing as the plane takes them away from danger. Everyone on the ground watches in awe as the airplane flies over their heads to head to a safer destination. Rukia makes her way to the car and jumps in the back seat, still watching the air plane disappear into the distance when Chris' grandpa starts the car up and heads back to the mansion.

* * *

"I'm Chris. I just got to be friends with Sonic last night." Chris introduces himself.

The group just arrived at the garage where they are hiding at the moment from the world's eyes, especially the experience they had at Area 99. The yellow twin tailed fox with light blue eyes steps up to introduce himself. "I'm Tails. I always hang around with Sonic. Right, Sonic...?"

"Sort of." Sonic replies with a smug grin.

With a polite smile, the young rabbit with an orange dress and her blue Chao friend bow to Chris and Rukia in a formal manner. "I'm Cream and this is my friend, Cheese. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same here. It seems we'll become good friends." Chris bows in return.

"You have nice manners, little one. My name is Rukia. It is nice to meet you too." Rukia returns the bow as she introduces herself.

"Thank you very much." Cream thanks her, which earns her a small smile from Rukia.

"Chao chao!"

Chris directs their attention to his grandfather who is sitting on a chair and examining the small, robotic airplane in between his fingers. "He's my grandfather."

"Fantastic! I've never seen such micron sized radio controlled planes before." Chris' grandfather praises, finding such delight in just encountering an advance piece of technology.

"Something like this is no big deal." Tails says, but his tails move happily with such praise as he rubs his nose.

"But..." Chris trails off as he turns to Sonic with an irritated expression, "... You're too reckless! You're dealing with the military, you know! War could've broke out."

With an easy-going attitude, Sonic replies with an optimistic smile. "It'll work out somehow."

"That's not the point." Chris scowls as Sonic just shrugs nonchalantly.

Chris' grandpa is kneeling to be at the same eye level as Tails as he continues to ask questions about the small airplane. "No, well, this is really fantastic. Where did you learn all this scientific technology?"

"Where...? All I can say is that I learned it in the world that I came from." Tails answers with a small shrug.

Rukia stays back a little as the two groups have a conversation (well almost due to the fact that Sonic is currently ignoring Chris' nagging). They seem to be getting along just fine, even if they have met within the first day. Cream watches the conversations unfold as she notices that Rukia isn't joining in. She walks up to her, which gains Rukia's attention and smiles politely to her. "I hope we become good friends."

"Same here..." Rukia nods to the little rabbit who smiles brightly at her comment.

"Uh, Sonic..." Tails voice catches everyone's attention, "If you, I, Cream, Cheese, and Rukia were all affected by that accident, could it also be that...all the others are here too?"

Sonic thinks about Tails question as he places a hand under his chin in deep thought. "The others who were there at the time were Knuckles, Amy, and..."

An encounter with Dr. Eggman flashes through Sonic, Tails and Creams mind before all three of them simultaneously say his name. "Dr. Eggman!"

"Oh great..." Rukia mutters under her breath, not liking the fact that this world will also be affected by that evil scientist's schemes.

* * *

**Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, except Rukia.**

_**Author's Note:**_ Another chapter finished and I must say, I have out done myself with this one. Fourteen pages for this one chapter, though I will admit that towards the end, I became lazy and just wanted to hurry up with finishing this chapter. There is one part of the story where I was hesitant on doing and you might see where it is. Those things tend to make me freeze, rethink the whole situation and delete it since it's out of my comfort zone. However, I want to continue getting better, so it's best if I do those kinds of things to become better at it.

To those that have gave me reviews, thank you. I have sent a private message to most of you, so please look in your Private Message section to find my message. I may or may not reply to the reviews in my chapters anymore, but I will send some private messages. ^^ Also, if you will notice, I am keeping my author's notes at the bottom since I am pretty sure you want to read the story right away. To those that want to find out about Rukia's old and new appearance, if you click on my profile and go to my DeviantArt account that's at the top, you will see the main page of my profile. Go to my gallery, click on scraps on the left upper side and you will see the two pictures of Rukia. That's who she looked like before and now. Thank you for reading and I accept any criticism.


	3. Chapter Three

There is something about this weather that makes one exhausted. It's hot, muggy, and Rukia is sweating bullets while lying on the grass in the shade. Not to mention there is next to no breeze to cool her off. How can anyone relax in this tiresome weather? Rukia decides she can't. She groans and turns on her side, turning her curious gaze to see what everyone else is doing. Tails is having a conversation with Chuck (the old guy) while uncoiling a hose. She guesses that he's going to use that to clean the blue plane. Rukia scans the area again before noticing Cream and Cheese carrying a table. They place the table near a palm tree and run back into the garage to grab some chairs.

Are these guys resistant to the heat? Such hard workers... Rukia grumbles before sitting up to stretch her arms out. The female fox hears a crack as she lets out a content sigh, feeling slightly numb and calm. Letting her arms slump to the side, Rukia scratches her stomach in a lazy manner before standing. "Hiding from the sun?"

Her right bent ear twitches upon hearing Sonic's voice and she turns to him with a frown. "Yeah... It's evil. How can you guys stand the heat? I'm still sweating even in the shade."

Sonic snickers. He finds Rukia's answer to be amusing since the weather isn't all that bad. Just a little hot. Sonic grins as he places his hands behind his head. "It isn't _that_ hot. You're just being dramatic."

"I am not. It really is hot. Besides..." Rukia protests before pointing a finger at him while narrowing her eyes, "You can cool down whenever you want since you can run really fast. I find that unfair."

"Jealous?" Sonic asks, his grin turning into a smirk.

Rukia didn't answer right away. She slowly rummages through her bag while looking to the side, her mind concentrating on Sonic's question. It is an interesting ability to have since it gives the user an advantage in battle. She has only seen him use his speed a couple of times these past two days, but never seen him use it in battle. Perhaps she will see him in action soon? Who knows...? Just the idea of seeing this blue hedgehog in battle peaks her interests.

Rukia's eyes brighten upon touching a familiar object as she brings it out. She rips the wrapper off and pops the strawberry flavor candy in her mouth before speaking. "Maybe... Maybe not... It's a good ability to have. Were you born with it? Or did you have to train to become fast?"

"A little bit of both." Sonic's chest swells up with pride as he rubs his nose.

"Hmm... I see. So, you were born with it, but trained yourself to get faster. Am I correct?" Rukia questions while twisting the white stick.

"Right..!" Sonic answers while giving her his trademark grin and a thumbs up.

The fox nods at his response, content with the information that she gathered. If she's going to be here a while, it's good to know who she is dealing with; whether it's a good or bad guy. Collecting information is essential when stuck in different situations and will be helpful in the future – no matter how little or big it is.

Rukia takes out the lollipop and observes the hedgehog in front of her. He seems to be the outgoing type and likes to show off his speed. That's what she knows just from watching him for a while. "And you? What's your ability?"

Sonic's question catches Rukia off guard. She didn't expect him to ask, at least, not right now. Rukia clears her throat and composes herself as she pops the lollipop back in her mouth. "That's a secret."

His eyes narrow a little at the statement. Sonic isn't quite sure if he should be cautious of her response or not. She didn't pose a threat and if she wants to hurt anybody, she would have done it by now. At least, that's his theory since he didn't know anything about the female fox in front of him. Well, that's not exactly right. There are two things he knows... She loves lollipops. Rukia always seems to have one in her mouth whenever he meets her and look extremely ecstatic. He wonders if there's a specific flavor that she enjoys the most. Maybe he'll find out the longer she stays around.

The second piece of knowledge is the whip hanging on her right hip. Is that her main weapon? If so, how good is she with it?

A strong breeze rushes toward them and gathers fallen leaves along the way. It didn't faze either of the creatures as the leaves fall gracefully around them. Sonic's ears twitch when hearing movement from Rukia and he watches her grab the white stick. Licking her lips, she quickly points her lollipop at Sonic with a small smirk. Sonic can only widen his eyes in surprise at the sudden gesture as she begins to speak. "We live in a vast world, hedgehog. I am sure both of us will know what the other is capable of the longer we stay here. However, I will bluntly say this..." Rukia brings her lollipop back and licks it with sharp eyes, "I do not trust you or your friends."

Sonic stands silently, taking in every word that Rukia utters. He can understand where she is coming from since he feels the same way. Trust takes time to form between different people. It isn't something that can be obtained right away. Sonic nods, accepting her words. Rukia returns the gesture before popping the lollipop in her mouth. "I am sure you feel the same way since you and your friends only know me by name. So..." Rukia sticks her hands in her pockets and smiles at the blue hedgehog, "Let's take the time to get to know each other, alright?"

"Fine with me..!" Sonic agrees as he smiles back.

"Miss Rukia!" Cream's voice catches both of their attention as Rukia turns to her.

Cream waves her over to the table where she is currently sitting at with another chair beside her. Cheese is sitting on the table enjoying a piece of doughnut. Finding that she's not hot anymore, Rukia decides to come out of the shade and join Cream. Sonic walks in the other direction where Tails is to join in the conversation. Cream greets Rukia with a cheerful smile as soon as she reaches her. The female fox gently smiles back as she sits beside the petite rabbit and becomes comfortable in the presence of the child. "Would you like one?"

Rukia stares at the doughnuts in the middle of the table before nodding as she chews on her lollipop. Once she swallows the candy, she grabs a piece of doughnut and bites into it. The soft, warm texture touches her tongue as the sweet bread starts melting in her mouth the more she chews. "Is it delicious?"

Both Rukia and Cheese nod simultaneously. Cream's smile brightens, happy that they enjoy her cooking. "That's good!"

"Alright, I'm going to go out on a run! See you guys later." Sonic announces as he jogs in place to warm up.

"Be careful not to trip and fall flat on your face." Rukia warns as she takes another bite.

Sonic sticks his tongue out at Rukia. She only smirks in return at his gesture. Cream waves at Sonic from her seat, hoping he'll be okay on his daily walk. "Have a safe trip!"

Sonic gives the girls a thumbs up before dashing off the driveway and into the streets. He leaves a trail of smoke which causes Tails and Chuck to cough. Rukia chuckles at their misfortune, smiling in amusement while finishing her doughnut. Some time have pass without incident until a familiar shout catches their attention. "Tails...!"

Tails' ears twitch upon hearing his name. He turns his head to stare at the human boy with the water still spraying the airplane. Chris stops in front of Tails and bends down to catch his breath. "What is it?"

"Where..." Chris starts off as he inhales a good amount of air before exhaling, "Where's Sonic?"

"Sonic said he was going out for a little walk." Cream answers for Tails.

"He left about half an hour ago. Who knows where he's at now..." Rukia shrugs while twirling a small white stick in between her fingers.

"I told him it would be hard to find him if he left the house..." Chris says with a sigh, feeling let down that Sonic did not listen to him once again.

"Will it really be hard to find him?" Tails wonders, turning the hose to turn the water off.

"I don't know, but..." Chris trails off, his mind full of doubts about the question.

"Why do you need to see him? Did something happen?" Rukia asks, leaning against her chair to listen to Chris' reason.

Chris widens his eyes at Rukia's question, remembering what he saw on television. "Ah, I almost forgot. There's big trouble downtown!"

Everyone tenses at Chris' words as they listen intently to his explanation. Chris quickly explains that he was watching television when the news came on. The news reporter informed the citizens that a large, robotic machine was destroying everything in its path and that a mad man was controlling said machine. That's why Chris needs Sonic: to go downtown and defeat the robot. So, with that in mind, they create two teams – one to cover the ground and the other to search in the sky. Chuck and Chris are taking the older man's car while Tails use his airplane with Rukia in the back seat.

Before buckling his seatbelt, Chris turns his attention to the creatures in the airplane. "If you can't find Sonic in thirty minutes, meet us back here and we'll come up with another plan."

"Roger." Rukia comments with a brief nod.

Rukia buckles up and glances at everyone on the ground. Chuck takes off of the driveway and onto the road. Cream and Cheese are safely inside the garage where they can't be detected. Tails pushes the acceleration control sticks to ascend into the sky and they are off. Rukia fixes her glasses as she keeps an eye out for the speedy blue hedgehog. Tails makes sure to keep the airplane at a distant height to prevent being spotted. He continues to maneuver the airplane with ease, feeling the wind brushing against his fur.

"Any sign of him?" Tails questions the silent female behind him.

"No. I don't see any trace of him." Rukia responds with a frown, moving a hair piece from her eyes.

"I see."

An awkward silence follows. Rukia isn't sure how to respond further, so she is content with enjoying the breeze and view. This is her first time flying in an airplane and the feeling is exhilarating. Sure, she was flying with Sonic when he ran off the ramp and into the open sky, but this is different. There is no fear of falling and she can sightsee as much as she wants to. At least, Rukia thinks at first until the realization of finding Sonic hits her mentally. This is no time to sightsee.

She pushes her glasses up a bit before leaning out some more to see well. Still, the feeling doesn't go away since the view is awe-inspiring. "This is amazing..."

Tails strands his ear to hear what Rukia said and he curiously glances over his shoulder. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah... I said this was amazing. It's my first time in an airplane." Rukia repeats as she glances at Tails with a small smile.

"Oh?" His tails move a little due to Rukia's compliment and experience. Tails feels a little happy that a stranger is having a good time, even if the situation is serious, "Well, I'm glad."

The awkward air seems to dissipate a little as the two continue to search for Sonic. It has been a while since they took flight and there's still no sign of Sonic. Tails ears lower in worry, maneuvering around a little bit longer. "Sonic... Where could he have gone?"

"Hopefully not too far..." Rukia mutters, not liking this one bit.

How hard can it be to find one blue hedgehog? It must be nearly impossible at this point. Rukia notices Chris trying to call out to Sonic in a park as they fly above them. "Still nothing, huh?"

Rukia sighs, shaking her head in disappointment at the situation. She leans forward and pokes Tails shoulder. The gesture gains his attention as he looks over his shoulder at Rukia, "It's been about thirty minutes. Let's start heading back."

"Right..."

* * *

The two teams regroup on the drive way and start making their way inside the garage. Cream and Cheese are waiting for them inside, explaining what's going on in the news. The monstrous machine is still causing chaos and the police are doing everything in their power to stop it. They are still struggling in vain since nothing seems to work against the robot. As the group reach the attic, the television screen change from the news lady to an all too familiar evil scientist, Dr. Eggman.

"_**Everyone listen well to this! My name is Dr. Eggman. The true form of genius. Right now I hope you all notice me via Eggman Network. As of now this entire world belongs to Dr. Eggman.**_" the man, Dr. Eggman, finishes with his obnoxious laughter.

"Dr. Eggman!" Tails angrily exclaims as he clenches his fist.

"If that's his true genius form, then it's uglier than before," Rukia insults as she pulls out a lollipop and casually rips the wrapper off. She pops the chocolate flavor candy in her mouth before moving her hands into her pockets, "So, what do we do now?"

No one answers her question right away. They're all intent on watching the television to see what the evil scientist has up his sleeve. It seems that a conversation is being held until Dr. Eggman snaps his fingers. The robot immediately reacts to the signal as his left missile-like arm bursts toward the policemen below and demolish their cars. This ignites the fire in Tails heart as he furiously rushes down stairs to start the airplane. If Sonic isn't here, then he will have to take the responsibility into his own hands. "Tails! Where are you going!?"

"To stop Dr. Eggman!" Tails shouts, climbing aboard the plane and flipping switches.

"Wait! I want to come with you. Just let me get my helmet!" Chris tells him as he frantically starts searching for the object.

Rukia walks toward the left wing while tightening her gloves, a serious expression on her face. She jumps and lands gracefully with her one knee propped to keep a steady balance. All of this excitement is causing her heart to pulse quick and hard. It has been a while since she last fought anything, so Rukia hopes she isn't rusty. Tails looks over his shoulder, an impatient expression on his face. "Chris, hurry up!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Chris apologizes as he runs to the airplane with a football helmet on his head.

Chris climbs into the backseat and buckles up immediately since the group is in a hurry. The other group that are safely on the ground are there to see them off. "Take care of Chris, you two!"

"Leave it to us!" Tails assures Chuck, giving him a thumbs up.

Rukia nods to the elderly man, having a grip on the wing to prepare for take off. Chris asks his grandfather and Cream to let them know if Sonic comes back. Cream promises as she bids them farewell with a wave. Finding that the airplane is ready to take off, Tails presses the controls forward and off they go to defeat Dr. Eggman. Thankfully, they have Chris as a guide to point them in the right direction. It would be bad for them to be lost in this world. The wind is blowing harshly against them as Tails is flying maximum speed and being careful to avoid any buildings.

Smoke wafts into Rukia's nostrils and her nose twitches before she sneezes. Chris looks up to see a large amount of smoke coming from a nearby, tall glass building. This means that the enemy is close by and they are closer to reaching Dr. Eggman's location. Tails' eyes narrow with determination as the plane maneuvers around a building and heads straight to the fat man in a floating machine. It seems the group has made it in time before the evil doctor can snap his fingers. "Stop it, Dr. Eggman!"

The doctor is clearly shocked at the sudden entrance of Tails since his mouth is wide open. Dr. Eggman panics as the airplane is heading straight at him and he ducks in time to avoid the collision. His large mustache moves wildly at the sudden wind caused by Tails. The man straightens himself as he continues to stare at the airplane in surprise. "Tails is here, so Sonic must be with him too!"

Tails maneuvers the airplane to fly against a building as the fun starts to begin. Dr. Eggman orders his robot, E-23, to attack the airplane. E-23 obliges and attacks the airplane with no hesitation. With both of its arms attacking one after the other, it is hard to gain some grounds. Tails is tense as he attempts to dodge all of the robots attacks. Chris and Rukia are struggling to hang onto something for dear life. The battle has only started and they are already in the disadvantage. Not giving up, Tails circles around and starts heading towards E-23. While dodging, he shoots bullets at its body and flies behind it. No effect.

"Damn, the attack didn't work!" Tails curses at the situation.

Chris notices something below them and alarms Tails immediately. The robots arm is heading straight at them with a lot of speed. Everything appears in slow motion as Tails pulls a lever towards him. Rukia scowls and bites into her lollipop as she braces for impact. There is a hit as the propellers are gone and pieces are flying everywhere. Not wanting to be hit, Rukia lets go of the wing and starts falling backwards on top of a building.

"Rukia...!"

She does her best to twist her body in order to land safely on the roof. Of course, she doesn't make it in time and ends up hitting the ground, back first. An immediate pain follows as Rukia cries out before watching the airplane descend dangerously behind the building. Rukia slams her fist to the ground as she struggles to sit up, the pain burning her back. Things are looking a bit brighter as Tails and Chris rise above the building with a futuristic plane. Her body relaxes a little, relieved to know that they're okay. That, however, comes to an end when E-23 resumes its attack on the plane.

All Tails can do is dodge its attack since he's having a hard time trying to counter attack. If only he can get a little closer... Rukia grunts as she slowly stands and rubs her aching back. That's going to leave a mark, that's for sure. Seeing as how Tails is in a tight spot, Rukia decides to help out. She takes her whip, uncoils it, and slaps it against the ground. Just the sound of the impact causes Rukia to shiver with anticipation. Rukia tightens the grip on the handle before she twists her wrist with ease. The leather wraps around the robots leg and once it did, she pulls with all her might.

The results are amazing. E-23 loses its footing and falls forward, causing the ground beneath it to break. Rukia brings her whip back as she watches the scene with a small gleeful smile. Dr. Eggman's face is red with rage on what happened to his creation. Tails and Chris stare in astonishment on what just transpired. That robot probably weighs a ton and yet, Rukia is able to make it fall down with ease.

How is that even possible? Rukia smacks the whip against the ground, gaining the doctor's attention. "Who are you!?"

"My name is Rukia. It's a pleasure to meet you, fatso." Rukia introduces herself while insulting him.

"Fatso...!? Who are you calling fat, you damn fox!?" Dr. Eggman curses at the woman.

"I don't see any other fatty here, do you? Or do you need a new pair of glasses?" Rukia questions, a smirk forming on her lips.

Before Rukia can further play with Dr. Eggman's emotions, a sound of a door opening catches her attention. With a curious glance, she looks over her shoulder to see who is joining the party. A red Echidna with purple eyes and a side ways crescent mark on his chest appears with a serious expression. He mutters something to himself before looking to the side with a smirk. "You're slow, Amy!"

A huge yellow and red hammer appears in front of his face which makes him back up. An angry pink hedgehog with green eyes in a red dress raises the hammer and charges at E-23. Rukia assumes that is Amy and just stands back to observe the situation. No need to go all out if someone else is going to gain the robots attention. Knuckles is calling out to Amy to stop her from going anywhere near the robot, but his voice fall on deaf ears. Amy does a battle cry before slamming her hammer against E-23's leg. It doesn't even leave a dent.

E-23 stands back up and turns toward the pink hedgehog. Amy is currently shaking her hand since the impact hurt her hands. The robot grabs Amy without her knowledge and holds her up. Amy immediately begins to struggle to get out of its grip. Knuckles leaps forward to attack. "Let Amy go!"

"Wait, Knuckles!" Dr. Eggman moves in front of the robot to stop Knuckles, "If you don't stop, his hand will squeeze tighter..."

Dr. Eggman snaps his fingers to demonstrate how serious he is. The claws squeeze its grasp on the hedgehog and Amy yells out in pain. Knuckles stops before clenching his fist in frustration as he glares at the human. Rukia places a hand in front of face, dumbfounded on the situation in front of her. How utterly...pathetic... "Oh brother..."

Her voice grasps Knuckles attention as he turns to the fox. He raises his fists up, ready to attack if the female makes a wrong move. Rukia doesn't turn to him as she coils her whip in a calm manner and places it back on her hip. "You're quite jumpy, aren't you?"

"Who are you?!" Knuckles demands, his fist not wavering.

Rukia coolly glances at him and shrugs before pointing at Amy. "Instead of demanding names, why don't you focus on trying to save pinkie there? Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not an enemy."

"Who's going to believe that...!? Are you working for Eggman!?" Knuckles demands once again.

"So noisy... Who the hell wants to work for that fatty? Definitely not me..." Rukia scoffs as she crosses her arms, taking that as an insult.

"Sonic's here...!"

Chris' voice interrupts the bickering between the two. The plane dives toward the ground to go meet Sonic. Dr. Eggman floats near the edge and starts commanding his robot right away. "Come on! E-23!"

E-23 throws Amy over its shoulder to attack its new target. Amy shouts in fear as she flies backwards. Knuckles jumps and catches her in mid-air before landing safely on the ground. E-23 is bending to attack an incoming target. Dr. Eggman frantically points at Sonic and shouts at his creation to fire. The robot fires actual missiles from its chest as they start hurling towards Sonic. The hedgehog smirks at the attempt as he spin dashes away from them. The group on the roof are suddenly startled when an explosion rocks the building beneath them. Dr. Eggman shouts in glee at the victory he achieved.

It's not over yet. Sonic bursts out of the smoke and into the open sky above Dr. Eggman. The doctor starts to panic as he orders E-23 to attack above. Using its arm missiles, the robot attacks. However, what they didn't expect is Sonic using them as a play toy to mock E-23. Hell, he even smacks his bottom to prove his point. Rukia snickers at his performance, finding his fighting skills to be amusing. Dr. Eggman shakes his fist at him. "You bastard...! You're making fun of me!"

Sonic continues to dance whenever he lands on E-23's robotic hands. Knuckles shouts for him to finish the job with a smirk. Sonic complies as he stops and lands on one arm. E-23 pulls it back and looks at him. Sonic makes a silly face at the robot while sticking his tongue out. E-23 raises his other arm and slams it against the one Sonic was on, breaking it in the process. Dr. Eggman shouts for the robot to fire while Sonic is in the air. E-23 obeys as missiles from its chest start heading toward Sonic. All of the missiles reach Sonic and collide, causing another explosion.

"I did it!" Dr. Eggman exclaims while pumping his fists downward.

Unfortunately, his sweet 'victory' ends when Sonic spin dashes out of the cloud of smoke and into E-23's metal body. Electricity sparks around the robot before it explodes in place. Knuckles covers Amy and himself as debris fly all over the place. Rukia has her arms up to protect her body, an ecstatic smirk on her face. "Not bad..."

Tails and Chris are cheering above, excited about Dr. Eggman's defeat. Speaking of the doctor, he is now covered in black smoke and bruises. Since he was the one closest to the robot, it is to be expected. Sonic steps forward with a smug expression and smirk. "What are you gonna do?"

"Y-you bastard... Sonic..." Dr. Eggman weakly curses him as he flies into the sky to escape, "Our battle isn't over yet!"

"Sonic!" Amy rushes over to Sonic and hugs him. Sonic does not look amused with this sudden hug, "I'm so glad to meet up with you!"

"H-hey...!" Sonic starts to protests.

A smug smirk starts to form on Rukia's lips as she walks over to the 'lovely couple'. Amy doesn't appear to be letting go any time soon since she continues. "I really thought that I wouldn't see you again!"

"Hey... That hurts." Sonic attempts to reason with the pink girl.

"Oho... Is this your girlfriend, hedgehog?" Rukia asks in a teasing tone.

"No, she's not!" Sonic answers quickly while shooting Rukia a small glare.

"But it looks like you guys are close... Are you sure?" Rukia continues, finding his expressions fun.

The fun quickly comes to a close when humans start coming out of the doorway and start aiming their guns at them. The human in the front demands them all to raise their hands. Knuckles, not liking to be ordered around, stands his ground and glares at the humans. "What do you want?"

"Just do as we say!" the human orders, raising his gun a bit.

An angry aura starts to form around the red Echidna, his fists tightening at the human's order. He doesn't like his attitude towards them. Not one bit! "You guys are pretty rude, aren't you!?"

"W-what are you doing?" the captain asks, feeling intimidated by Knuckles raging force.

"Sonic! Catch this!" Tails' voice catches their attention as his airplane comes by with a rope ladder.

Sonic wraps an arm around Amy before jumping to catch the ladder. Rukia runs a bit and jumps as well. They grab onto the ladder, but are still missing one more. "Knuckles...!"

Knuckles continues to glare at the humans. Amy calls out to him again. This brings him out of his angry mood and he merely smirks at the uniformed humans before he starts running. They immediately fire after the captain's orders them to. All of the bullets miss Knuckles as he jumps and catches the rope ladder. Tails maneuvers out of the way and to the distance where they start flying home. Chris looks down at them with a smile. "Let's go back to my house!"

"Cream and Cheese are waiting for us!" Tails tells them with a small smile.

"Eh, really...!? Everyone will be together again!" Amy exclaims, very excited to see the two again after so long. After that exclamation, however, she turns to Rukia with a smile, "My name is Amy Rose by the way! And Sonic here is my boyfriend!"

"I knew it. The name's Rukia. Nice to meet you..." Rukia says with a smug smirk on her face, knowing she's going to have fun teasing the poor blue hedgehog.

"Don't go saying weird things, Amy!" Sonic shouts in a stern tone.

"What do you mean 'weird things'!? It's the truth~!"

Rukia just laughs at their bickering, finding the 'couple' to be quite cute. She isn't sure if it's the case or not since Sonic keeps rejecting the idea. Maybe she'll find out eventually.

"Sorry, but I have my own things to do!" Knuckles suddenly apologies, which earns everyone's attention. He lets go of the rope ladder and starts gliding away, "Farewell!"

Rukia watches as he glides safely towards a nearby forest. She wonders what things he has to do in this strange world. Perhaps... He has his own mission as well? Rukia looks toward the sunset, her mission playing out in her head. To find that one person... Is he in this world...or not?

* * *

**To Be Continued...**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sonic characters, except Rukia._**

_Author's Notes: Alright, chapter three is up and is ready to be read by you folks. I'll be updating the other story later on today (when I get some rest), so please be patient. Another thing I want to add is that the website I use to view the videos are dealing with old broken videos and Sonic X is one of them. I had no choice but to look at the videos I used in the old story, so the dialogue will probably look the same to you. I apologize on behalf of that. Another good thing is that I have my own Beta and she's a really good friend of mine. Here's her message to you guys. _

**_StrykingShadows Notes: Yes. Underlining, bolding, and italics. I'm just that awesome. Anyways, this may or may not be the only time I do this, depending on what Dreamer says (feel free to delete this, if you want Dreamer.) I just wanted to introduce myself this go around. I'll be Dreamer's beta for this fic. I'm trying to stay as close to her original writing style as possible, with minor edits (i.e. subject-verb agreent, sentence flow) as well as make little notes for suggestions for Dreamer (don't forget to delete those, Dreamer). So if you see this kind of writing up in the story...that was me. And should have been deleted._ Apologies.**

And there you have it. If you guys want to have a chat with my friend here, don't hesitate! I bet she'll love the company. 8) Oh, if you guys go to my main DeviantArt page, a friend of mine drew a picture of Rukia. It's in my favorites or rather, you will see her right away as soon as you click on the link on my account. I hope you guys have a good day~ Ta ta~!


	4. Chapter Four

"Hey Sonic, what are you going to do with that stick?" Cream asks curiously while bringing her hands behind her and leaning towards him.

"To wake her up..." Sonic briefly answers as he edges the pointy stick closer to Rukia.

"Why can't you wake her up normally?" Tails questions further as his tails flutter in anticipation.

"I wanna see what kind of expression she shows." Sonic answers before grinning.

"What kind of a reason is that...?" Tails mutters with a sigh.

The small group is crowding in Chris' room where Rukia is resting on a bean bag. Her fluffy tail is lying against her front to provide warmth and comfort. She looks so peaceful... Sonic wonders if she's having a good dream. With that small smile on her face, she must be.

A quiet snore emits from her as she tightens her grip on her tail. They hold their breath, expecting her to wake up at the sound of their voices. She did not open her eyes. Rather, Rukia snuggles closer to her tail and remains asleep. A sigh of relief escape Sonic's lips as he resumes his action. Tails just shakes his head at Sonic's silly antics, but doesn't stop him. Cream bounces on the back of her heels a little, her big, curious, and innocent brown eyes watching the scene before her. Soon enough, Sonic's stick touches Rukia's nose. Her eyes immediately snap open and she glares at the blurry group. "What do you think you're doing? Huh?"

Rukia was having a good dream until someone woke her up. Her right deformed ear twitches in irritation as she struggles to sit up. She pats herself until she finds her glasses and sticks them in front of her eyes. Once the view becomes clear, Rukia glances at each familiar face and then stops at Sonic. He's still carrying the stick and wearing that smug grin on his face. Just looking at him irritates her even more as her glare sharpens. "So it was YOU who woke me up."

Tails backs up a little upon seeing her glare. He doesn't want to become involve in her angry spat with Sonic. Speaking of the hedgehog, he stands there, unfazed by Rukia's glare or accusation. He thrusts a thumb in his direction and continues to grin. "Yup... It was me. Good morning!"

Rukia's hands twitch. She longs to hit the hedgehog with everything she has. However, before she can attempt to go through with that plan, Cream takes her hands and smiles at her. The gesture surprises Rukia. She turns to the petite rabbit, her eyes wide as she stares at Cream. "Mister Chris wanted us to wake you up and bring you to the garage. We're going to have a meeting about the Chaos Emeralds."

It takes Rukia a moment to let Cream's words sink in. Chaos Emeralds...? A meeting...? Well, the words "Chaos Emeralds" catch her interest. She might not have seen the Emeralds in person, but she has heard of them. Rukia didn't really much care for myths. However, she will go ahead and listen to what the others have to say about them.

Rukia sighs as her mood becomes calmer as she nods at Cream. "Alright... I'll go."

Cream smile brightens as she let's go of Rukia's hands briefly to clap her hands once. "That's wonderful! Let's go now."

"Before we go..."

Sonic suddenly feels a painful sting on his cheek and he winces at the sudden impact. Rukia smirks as she tightens her grip on her whip, gleeful at his reaction. "That's a warning. Don't wake me up with a stick from now on, got it? It'll be even more painful the next time you do so."

Rukia whips the floor to prove her point before she coils and hooks her whip back to her side. Sonic rubs his sore cheek with a pout. Rukia just chuckles as she turns to the door and starts heading out. Cream and Cheese eagerly follow her which left Sonic and Tails in the room. Tails scratches behind his head, at a loss of words on what just transpired. He is used to seeing Sonic being hit by girls, especially from Amy when Sonic makes her angry.

Well... Not really hit him, but threaten him with her weapon. Tails understands this well since he was threaten with her weapon before, but she means well. Sometimes. Tails laughs nervously to himself before turning to Sonic. "Was that the reaction you were looking for?"

"You can say that..." Sonic replies with a sheepish smile. He tosses the stick in a trash.

"And what have we learned?" Tails asks, crossing his arms as if trying to 'scowl' Sonic.

Sonic catches on to his act and dramatically raises his hands. "Oh, I have learned a valuable lesson, O' Great Tails!" Tails bites the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing, though he's failing miserably, "I have learned to not wake up a lady with a stick. Please forgive me for I have caused trouble to those around me!" Sonic wraps an arm around Tails shoulder as he grins at his little brother's reaction. Tails just clenches his stomach as he laughs, small tears coming out of his eyes, "You forgive me, lil bro?"

"Y-yeah, I do." Tails stutters as he attempts to regain his composure and breath.

"Good." Sonic says as he uses his other hand to rub Tails head in a brotherly manner.

Tails just laughs at Sonic's gesture, feeling the mood being brighter than before. After the two calm down, they leave the room to join the others. Of course, they still have to be cautious of their surroundings. The butler and maid do not know about their existence just yet. It'd be best if Chris or Chuck tell them about their new 'guests', rather than finding out themselves. If and when that happens, that remains a mystery since no one can predict the future.

Whatever occurs, Sonic believes everything will be alright in the end. Some humans might not accept them right away, but that's okay. They have plenty of time in this world... However long they stay that is. Still, they have to find the Chaos Emeralds to take them back to their world. Since they are still strangers in this world, exploring for the emeralds will not be an easy task. What an exciting challenge!

Soon enough, the two finally join the others in the attic where they can have their discussion. It's time that they explain to Chris and Chuck (probably Rukia too) about how they appeared on Earth. Sonic takes a seat by the window and lies down to become comfortable. Tails sits beside Cream and Cheese, who are currently relaxing in a big yellow bean bag. Amy is residing on top of a purple bean bag with an impatient expression. Rukia leans forward against the back of a chair, her legs hanging in front of her. Licking the lollipop in her mouth, Rukia rests her chin on her arms and watches the group. Chris steps forward and nods when he notices that everyone is here. "Okay. Grandpa and I are ready to listen."

Speaking of the old man, he's sitting in front of a computer and typing away. Chuck doesn't turn to the group, but he gives them a thumbs up to let them know he's listening. Tails is the one to speak first about the Chaos Control and explain further on how they came here. The group is silent as Tails explanation etches into Chris and Chuck's mind. Once Tails is done, Chris speaks to see if he understands it correctly.

"I understand now that Chaos Control caused a warp in time and space and that's why you were all flown over into this world," Chris starts off before he continues with a question, "But what is the Chaos Emerald that caused that Chaos Control?"

"The Chaos Emerald is the Chaos Emerald and nothing else." Tails explains.

"There's a legend that says if you gather all seven Chaos Emeralds, the entire world will be yours." Amy adds with a smile.

"Oh... They sound troublesome and dangerous." Rukia admits while sighing.

"Do you even know what they are?" Sonic questions with a frown.

He finds it hard to believe that she doesn't know much about the Emeralds. She _is_ from their world, right? It's pretty much common knowledge about their power. Well, it is to him and his friends.

Rukia slowly takes out her lollipop and stares at it in deep thought. No words come out of her mouth as the silence drags on. She calmly twists the stick before quietly speaking. "I am...just not interested in myths. Is there something strange about that?"

Her quiet voice catches Sonic by surprise, even if it's a small amount. Something in her voice tells him that she doesn't want to talk about it. This alarms him quite a bit, but he only narrows his eyes at her question. If he presses her more, she will most likely shut him out. It's better to take it nice and slow to learn more about her. So he just replies in a calm manner. "Not really."

"Good."

"They're only dangerous if they're in the wrong hands." Amy protests, nervously redirecting the conversation to the original topic.

"They're still dangerous... Since that fatso is here, we would have to get to them first before he does." Rukia points out lazily, returning to her normal self. She starts chewing on her orange flavor candy and swallows.

"But it didn't work out that way," Chuck interrupts the conversation while turning in his chair. All eyes are on him as he continues with a smile, "Legend ended as legend."

Cream blinks in confusion. She has seen the Chaos Emeralds before, but did they really disappear as Chuck explains it? "Did it really end?"

"I guess it's ended the moment the Chaos Emeralds disappeared." Chuck assumes, not having all of the answers.

There is silence in the room. Without the Chaos Emeralds, how are they suppose to go home? That is something that will be hard to do and most of them have a mission to carry out. Rukia bites into the white stick, not liking the sound of things. Just as the positive mood starts to drop, a voice speaks up from the corner of the room. "They haven't disappeared."

Everyone turns their attention to Sonic. His voice is unwavering as he continues. "After the seven Chaos Emeralds are brought together, they scatter all over again."

"Which means they are still here somewhere?" Chris asks, becoming hopeful at Sonic's words.

Sonic turns to Chris and grins. To assure him even more, Sonic gives him a thumbs up. "That's right."

"But..." Tails trails off as he looks over at Chris, uncertain, "We don't know where they've scattered to; our home world or this world here."

"If they are somewhere in this world, if we search and find all seven Emeralds and cause Chaos Control once again..." Chris turns to Sonic with a bright, warm smile, "...you can all go back to where you came from. Right, Sonic?"

"Well, I guess so!"

Leave it to Sonic to bring the mood back to normal. It seems the rest of the day will leave a hopeful feeling in their hearts. Once the conversation is over, Chris excuses himself and walks out to go to school. Chuck is snoring away in his usual spot. There doesn't seem to be anything else going on, so Rukia stands and stretches her arms out. Tails, Cream, and Amy are having a group conversation about who knows what.

Perhaps they are planning their next plan of action. It seems likely since they still need to gather information about finding these Emeralds. Who knows where they're hiding, especially in this strange world called Earth. Rukia rubs her temples, feeling a small headache coming. What a mess she's in... Still, thinking about how much work they have to go through just dampens her spirit. How long are they going to be here? A month...? Three months...? A year...? No one can predict the future, after all.

A sigh escapes her lips as turns to the group. Being away from home is not easy. She understands that all of them are dealing with that feeling. The emotions of being away from their families... Heart wrenching and lonely... Rukia felt those emotions when she first started her journey. It would take months before she grew accustomed to them, but it didn't fade away entirely. No, they still linger in her mind and heart.

Now, as she gazes at the happy group, she realizes that they are together. Yes, they might be sad that they're not with their families. However, they are not alone and that makes Rukia a little jealous.

How fortunate for them indeed...

Rukia walks toward the group and clears her throat to gain their attention. If she's going to be staying with them, she might as well learn more about these Emeralds. The group turns to her as she speaks. "Err... I was wondering if you can tell me more about those Chaos Emeralds."

"Eh? I thought you weren't interested in them?" Amy questions with a confused frown.

"Well, since I am going to help you guys and all... I thought learning more about them would help me have a better understanding of the Emeralds." Rukia admits sheepishly. She fixes her glasses nervously, wondering if they'll accept that answer.

"Okay. We'll explain it to you." Tails says with a steady smile.

Rukia nods, grateful that they take up on offering her more information. From the other side of the room, Sonic watches in interest. Tails explains further as Rukia listens to his words. There is not a lot more to learn from the Emeralds since their origins are a mystery. However, their power is unlimited and they can do incredible things.

An example is reviving the recently deceased and that catches Rukia's attention even more. After the explanation, Rukia stands there, a deep look in her eyes as she ponders on Tails' words. They sure are powerful and apparently they look really beautiful. Finding this information useful, Rukia smiles a little as she looks at them. "Thank you for telling me."

"It's no problem." Tails assures her with a smile.

With that, she feels content on the information and bids her goodbye to the group. Rukia starts heading towards the exit until Sonic's voice stops her. "Not going to stay around?"

"Nah. I'll leave the planning to you guys." Rukia answers in a calm tone. She tucks her hands in her pockets and looks at him.

"Going to get some more beauty sleep?" Sonic teases with a smirk.

"Yeah I am. It's eight o'clock in the morning - way too early for me." Rukia waves off his tease before descending the stairs.

Sonic snickers at her comment. Too early, huh...? It's never too early to wake up to a good morning; the fresh scent of flowers blooming and the cool air blowing against his cheeks. What he finds more intriguing is that both touch and smell sometime changes whenever the seasons change. It's what makes his morning 'walks' more exhilarating. Speaking of which, it's about time to go out.

"I'll catch ya guys later." Sonic bids his goodbye before his legs tense and he bursts out of the room.

The sudden harsh wind blows against Chuck's face and he immediately wakes up. His hair is a mess with certain strands sticking up. Chuck's funny facial expression causes the girls to giggle at his misfortune. Tails looks at him with an apologetic smile as he informs the elderly man that Sonic just left. Chuck grumbles irritably as he smoothes his hair and fixes himself. He instantly falls back asleep in his chair after he was done.

He's quick to go to sleep, that's for sure. They stare at him in astonishment before resuming their conversation. Nothing exciting happens after that, so the rest of the day goes by without incident.

* * *

It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon. The weather is warmer than yesterday, but it's still comfortable. Rukia is sitting in the living room with Cream and Cheese. Cream is occupying herself with a children's book. Cheese will occasionally switch from the television to the book and vice versa. A question mark will, at times, appear on top of his head when he curiously glances at the book. Cream will notice her friend's stare and patiently explain it to him with a smile. Rukia watches with a small smile, finding their interaction to be adorable.

"_**A strange stone was found at the construction site of a West Jingle department store,**_" the news lady, Scarlett, catches the girls attention as they fix their gaze on the screen, "_**It appears to be a gem stone, but it made machines gauges go haywire when nearby,**_" the television screen flickers here and there, but Scarlett continues, "_**Perhaps all you viewers are already seeing the effects of this stone on the images of your TV screen. You may see or hear static. These are caused by the energy that is emitted by the stone.**_"

Rukia's eyes narrow at the information. If the stone is able to cause such a ruckus, then there's a possibility that it's a Chaos Emerald. Cream leans forward, intent on learning more about this stone. Someone hands Scarlett something and she holds a sketch up. On the picture is a green diamond shape gemstone. "_**This is what the stone looks like.**_"

"Ahhh...!" Cream shouts in surprise, her eyes wide at the picture.

"So, that's what a Chaos Emerald looks like..." Rukia mutters as she rips a wrapper off a lollipop and pops the apple flavor candy in her mouth.

"We've got to tell Sonic about it." Cream says as she jumps off the couch and runs out.

Cheese is hot on her trail as they leave together. Rukia remains behind for a moment, staring at the picture with a frown.

So, the first Emerald is here in this city, huh? What an odd coincidence. Who would have thought that yesterday's conversation would lead to this discovery... In just one day too... Rukia leans against the couch and breathes in some air. She slowly breathes out a long sigh as her body slumps against the cushions. This will be the first step in starting this long journey of collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds. She's supposed to feel thrilled about the whole thing, but she feels a headache coming instead.

"Ugh... Why do I have a feeling that this is going to cause more stress?" Rukia sighs while rubbing her temple.

Well, she can't find the answer to that question just sitting here. Rukia stands and makes her way outside to join Cream in finding Sonic. It didn't take long when she locates Cream speaking with Sonic. Before she joins them, Sonic takes off into the streets and down the road. Rukia stops beside Cream and stares where Sonic disappeared. She calmly takes the lollipop out, twists it and turns to Cream with a calm expression. "Does he know where he's going?"

Cream pauses to think about her words before she smiles nervously. "I don't think so."

"As I thought... What a reckless hedgehog..." Rukia shakes her head, clearly not amused.

"We should go tell the others." Cream tells her.

"Alright. Let's go." Rukia follows the petite rabbit to where everyone is gathering.

They find themselves in the garage where everyone, except Sonic and Chris, are hanging out. Cream quickly explains the situation and informs them that Sonic already left. Tails understands as he quickly starts the blue airplane. Amy climbs in the passenger seat and buckles up. Rukia jumps on top of the right wing as the propeller's start to gain more speed. The excess wind blows through Rukia's hair, but she doesn't mind it. Cream, Cheese, and Chuck are staying behind to stay out of harm's way. Cream steps forward. "Tails, please be careful."

Tails turns to her and nods with an assuring smile. "Yes, I know."

"Sonic left saying he was going ahead of us, but does he know where to go?" Amy wonders since none of them have a lot of knowledge of the city.

"I guess so, because he knew last time too, didn't he?" Tails assumes.

"I think he got lucky last time." Rukia bluntly states, which earns her some stares.

"Last time it was in a conspicuous place in town. But I wonder where it's going to be this time." Chris informs them before muttering the last sentence to himself.

The conversation ends as Tails pushes a lever forward and the airplane starts to move. It gains enough speed before Tails pulls and the airplane lifts off into the open sky. Rukia grips onto the wing, making sure she doesn't slip or fall. There is something breath taking about all this. Just crouching and hanging onto the wing just makes her feel so...alive. The feeling of making a simple mistake that could lead to her death is exciting. Exhilarating... Adrenaline pumps through her veins as a smirk starts to form on her lips.

"Rukia, are you okay?"

Amy's voice snaps Rukia out of her dark thoughts. She turns to her as Amy's eyes are full of concern for the female fox. Rukia narrows her eyes a bit, but her facial expression remains neutral. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you are on the wing for one. You don't have a place to sit down after all..." Amy answers honestly.

Ah, so that's what she's worried about. Sighing, Rukia smiles a little at Amy and nods. "I'm alright. So, you don't need to worry about me."

Amy watches her with doubt in her eyes. It isn't safe for anyone, including Sonic, to be on the wing. She feels bad that she's sitting here when Rukia is facing a dangerous stunt. However, Amy trusts in Tails' piloting skills and finally nods after some thinking. She can't remember anybody falling of this airplane, so she feels a bit better. Rukia returns the gesture before turning her gaze at the buildings that are coming to view.

Time for some investigation. They have the advantage of being in the air to see everything below them. Tails swiftly maneuvers around buildings until they come upon a construction site. The site looks familiar in Rukia's point of view and she quickly fills them in. She remembers seeing it on the television behind the news reporter. Taking her word for it, Tails maneuvers out of the way and searches for Sonic. It doesn't take long to find the blue hedgehog. At the moment, he is standing on top of an antenna, looking bored. Amy enthusiastically waves at him before pointing toward the construction site. "Sonic, over there...!"

Sonic turns to the direction that Amy pointed and nods before he takes off. He jumps from building to building with ease as he becomes closer to the site. Tails follows without trouble. Everything seems to be going well until they notice a large group of humans running in their direction. Rukia chews on her lollipop with a frown. "Why are they running? Is there some kind of event going on?"

"No, look!" Tails shouts as he points forward.

Up ahead, just flying in their direction, are Dr. Eggman and a purple bird machine. It seems that the evil doctor has caught wind of the location of the Chaos Emerald. This is not going to be easy. Sonic seems to notice Dr. Eggman as he grins and starts running in his direction. Not a moment too soon, the doctor must have noticed Sonic coming and sends his robot to fight him. The machine flies towards Sonic to confront the speedy hedgehog. It gains speed by diving in one direction and toward its enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic jumps off a building and immediately becomes vulnerable.

Why? Using its beak, the robot knocks right into the hedgehog and sends him flying backwards. It continues its tactic to prevent the hedgehog from doing anything. Sonic is unable to counter attack and can only deal with the humiliation of being a 'ball'. Tails maneuvers around to gain some distance with Sonic. "Amy, give the ring to Sonic!"

Amy holds up a golden ring and waves it around to catch Sonic's attention. "Sonic, catch this!"

Tails moves closer to where Sonic is. Seeing her chance, Amy throws the ring at Sonic and hopes he catches it. Sonic notices the ring and tries to grab it. Unfortunately for him, he misses the ring and can only watch in horror as the ring descends. "No way!"

"Amy..." Tails says, in disbelief on what just happened.

"I would find this funny if the situation wasn't so dire." Rukia admits with a shake of her head.

"Ah. I messed up. Hey, can you get any closer?" Amy asks as she sits back down.

"It's tough, but I'll give it a try." Tails answers as he turns around to reach Sonic again.

Tails can practically feel the pain that Sonic is going through. It is quite apparent on the blue hedgehog's face as the robot's beak continues to hit him over and over again. He is waiting for the right moment to rush in. Tails didn't have to wait long. The robot hits Sonic so hard that he flies higher than normal. The young fox presses forward as quick as possible.

"Give the ring to me! I'll be closer to him!" Rukia shouts while looking at Amy.

Amy has another golden ring ready for Sonic and quickly hands it to Rukia. With one hand on the ring and the other gripping the wing, she prepares herself. Sonic notices the airplane as he prepares to grab the ring. Tails moves the airplane down a little to where Sonic is. "Here!"

Sonic bends backwards in mid-air as he takes the ring from Rukia. He closes his hand around the ring as a familiar warmth envelope within his body. The blue hedgehog flies higher until his body curls into a ball and darts toward the incoming robot. His body penetrates through the robots beak and out the other end. Immediately, the robot explodes and victory is Sonic's. Amy and Tails cheer at his success. Rukia grins a little at his performance before something catches her attention. Dr. Eggman is in his usual flying contraption, but something is off. Her grip tightens on the wing when she notices who is dangling from the machine. "Hey kid!"

Rukia's outburst catches Amy and Tails attention. Tails notices Chris is in trouble and immediately flies to his rescue. He isn't the only one with that idea since Sonic is running on ground to keep up. They watch as Chris struggles with Dr. Eggman about who knows what and tries to stay on the machine. Everything takes a turn for the worse when Dr. Eggman forces the boy off. Chris is now falling at a dangerous speed. Tails and Amy yell out Chris' name as Tails tries to hurry.

With each passing second, Chris' life is slowly coming to its end. That is, that's what they think until Sonic catches the boy in time. A burst of cheering comes into effect. Rukia smiles at the boy's fortunate luck. He lives another day in this world. Seeing as they completed their goal, Tails maneuvers the airplane and heads home.

* * *

"Look! Look! It's the Chaos Emerald!"

Everyone is gathered in the attic of the garage. Chris is holding out a brilliant green emerald, its pure light glimmering. Sonic is in usual spot, lying on his back with hands behind his head. Everyone else circles around the Chaos Emerald, finding it to be beautiful. Cream holds her friend, Cheese, as she smiles brightly at everyone, excitement clear in her eyes. "We've got one for a start!"

"We've got six more to go!" Amy counts, finding Cream's excitement contagious.

"But we can't keep it here because it'll make the machines go haywire." Chuck bursts their bubble briefly.

"No problem. I'll adjust the machines for you." Tails offers with his hands out.

"Really, well thanks..." Chuck smiles at Tails for his help.

"You're welcome."

Chris looks at the Chaos Emerald for a moment before he turns to Sonic. A frown forms on his lips as he hesitantly stands and walks over to Sonic. Guilt starts to form within the child's body as he stops in front of the hedgehog. Sonic watches him curiously, wondering what he needs. Chris clenches the Emerald before speaking. "Uh... I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Sonic asks as he tilts his head a little.

"For making you worry..." Chris starts off while looking down, but Sonic intervenes.

"No problem. Hey, Chris..." his optimistic voice catches Chris off guard as he looks at the hedgehog in surprise, "You were really cool!"

Chris stands there for a moment before he blushes, happy about Sonic's compliment. Chuck laughs at Chris' blush before speaking. "But don't get too reckless, because you're not Sonic."

"Yeah, make sure you don't follow his example. He's a terrible influence." Rukia thrusts a thumb at Sonic with a shake of her head.

"You say something?" Sonic asks his attention toward Rukia.

"Yup. You're. A. Terrible. Influence." Rukia boldly repeats herself slowly, and then smirks at him.

Sonic isn't sure if she is teasing or being serious. So, he just sticks his tongue out. Rukia's smirk widens as she chuckles. With one Chaos Emerald in their possession, they are one step closer to returning home. They are victorious on this day, but what they don't know is that things will become difficult.

_Six more to go..._

* * *

**_To be_**_** continued...**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic characters, except**** Rukia.**_

_Author's Notes: _That is all folks! I hope you enjoy another chapter of this remake. I hope you all have a good day! Also, here's what my beta has to say. 8)

**_Stryker's note: I've decided these are fun, since I'm neglecting my own story. *glances at Labyrinth story, completely realizing this is somewhat a form of shameless advertising* I'll blame my lack of internet for my computer... Any who, like last time, ignore the Bolded Italics of Underlined Awesomeness if you note them in the story. Except Scarlett. She's part of the story. *shot* ja ne!_**


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